Dog rescued from hot roof in New London

New London Police Officer Jim Suarez carries a small dog named Coco back into a third story apartment on Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. Members of the fire and police departments responded to the Ocean Avenue apartment building after the dog wandered onto the roof and could not get back inside.

Published August 31. 2012 12:00PM | Updated August 31. 2012 11:46PM

Izaskun E. Larrañeta

New London — A slightly altered version of the title of the Tennessee Williams' play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" came to life Friday morning when a police officer with a dog biscuit in his mouth rescued a small poodle from the roof of 216 Ocean Ave.

Animal Control Officer Michael Martin said he got the call about the dog at 10:38 a.m.

When he and Officer Jim Suarez arrived, they saw a freshly sheared poodle wearing a green T-shirt and pacing back and forth on the roof of the multi-family house.

"I believe everything I hear over the phone until I see otherwise," Martin said.

He explained that the dog had gone through a broken screen window and onto the roof.

No one was in the house to take the dog back inside, so Martin called a fire department ladder truck to assist with the rescue.

While waiting for the truck to arrive, Suarez would tell the poodle to "step back" or "sit" every time it would approach the roof's ledge.

Suarez volunteered to get the dog and climbed the ladder while holding a dog biscuit in his mouth. Once he reached the roof's ledge, he offered the poodle the treat, but the dog merely sniffed it.

Suarez was able to grab the dog, place it back inside the house and close the window so it wouldn't escape again.

"The closer I got the smaller the dog got," Suarez said. "I was worried because it looked like his paws were getting hot."

Martin said there was no criminal aspect to the incident, but he would follow up with the dog's owner.

Neighbor Lisa Potter said the dog is named Coco and never caused any trouble before. She said she had called the dog's owner and told her what had just happened.